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Try to keep up: Ministry to promote chip design, manufacturing

(Express Tribune (Pakistan) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Ministry of Science and Technology is all set to promote chip design and manufacturing industry in an effort to achieve self-reliance and promote domestic design and manufacturing and achieve a turnover of $10m annually by 2018.

“We are taking steps to promote electronics system design and manufacturing in the country for economic development, employment generation and increase in exports of this sector,” an official at the ministry said on Tuesday.

Officials said the ministry was taking steps to increase availability of skilled manpower in the electronics design and manufacturing sector to create an enabling environment for local and foreign investment and to achieve the human resource creation target – 500 masters and 100 PhDs annually – by 2017.

To meet these targets, the officials said, an extensive human resource development (HRD) programme may be launched in the high-technology semi-conductor design and manufacturing in collaboration with local and foreign universities to ensure availability of adequate trained and skilled manpower for the industry.

“Semi-conductor wafer fabrication facilities will be established for the manufacturing of chips and components,” an official said.

Along with this, the establishment of Conformity Assessment Centres will facilitate the production of quality electronic products.

The electronics manufacturing industry is the largest and the fastest growing industry in the world and at present its size is estimated at $1.75 trillion.

In Pakistan, the industrial base in this sector is negligible, though the country is among major users of electronic goods.

By establishing the electronics manufacturing industry, a large number of unemployed youth can be employed in this area.

“For self-reliance, the promotion of the electronics system design and manufacturing industry is essentially required,” the official said.

Talking about key areas of the electronics system design and manufacturing, he said they included consumer electronics, information technology and telecom, automotive electronics, electronic components, chip design, medical electronics, power electronics and LED lights.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2014.

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